The Central Weather Bureau announced that Tropical Storm Usagi had formed early yesterday morning, adding that it could issue a sea alert for the storm tomorrow and a land alert on Friday.
At press time, the center of the storm was 1,210km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and was moving west at 10kph. Its maximum wind speed near the center was 65kph, with the radius of the storm reaching 100km.
The bureau said that the storm’s outer boundaries will likely make the weather on the first day of the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday unstable nationwide. Chances of showers are high in the northern and northeastern regions. Showers are also likely to appear in some parts of central and southern Taiwan.
Bureau forecaster Wang Chun-sian (王君賢) said the storm does not have a clear steering air current, which explains why it is moving slowly. He also said that Usagi could potentially become stronger.
Based on the bureau’s projections, the storm will continue moving northwest, cross the Bashi Channel and come near the southern and southwestern coasts of Taiwan on Friday and Saturday.
Whether the storm reaches land depends on the power of the high pressure system in the Pacific, Wang said, adding: “If the high pressure system weakens, then the storm’s path of movement would move further north.”
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